1874: Marshall Martin, “an innocent man compared to that woman”
January 23rd, 2018 Robert Elder
(Thanks to Robert Elder of Last Words of the Executed — the blog, and the book — for the guest post. This post originally appeared on the Last Words blog. Fans of this here site are highly likely to enjoy following Elder’s own pithy, almanac-style collection of last words on the scaffold. -ed.)
Gentlemen, I am here to die, but I am an innocent man compared to that woman. She deserves death ten times more than I do.
-Marshall Martin, convicted of murder, hanging, California. Executed January 23, 1874
Martin’s work supervisor was Valentine Eischler, whose marriage with wife Elizabeth was in the course of unraveling. According to Martin’s testimony, Elizabeth seduced him and urged him to murder her husband. Eventually, Eischler died in an attack with an ax, with both parties claiming responsibility at different times. Elizabeth pleaded insanity and was sent to an asylum. Martin was convicted of first-degree murder. It’s worth noting that the Chicago Daily Tribune recorded slightly different last words: “Gentlemen: I want you all to understand that I am here to die; but I am an innocent man; I don’t deserve this. The woman that caused me to do this deserves death a thousand more times than I do. That’s all I have to say.” Martin’s hanging was particularly gruesome, as recorded by the newspaper Alta California: “Although there was a drop of only six feet, the body dropped headless to the ground. His head rebounded a distance of six feet.”
(Also see a 2011 feature on the crime and the hanging in the San Jose Mercury News: Part 1 | Part 2 -ed.)
On this day..
- 1952: Võ Thị Sáu - 2020
- 1945: Angelo Chiappe - 2019
- 1639: The auto de fe of Lima, Peru - 2017
- 1888: Danny Driscoll, Whyo - 2016
- 1751: Lobsang Trashi and the Lhasa Rebellion leaders - 2015
- 1348: The Duke of Durazzo, all in the family - 2014
- 1985: Vladimir Vetrov, Farewell - 2013
- 1892: Patrick Boyle, bindle bandit - 2012
- 1996: Richard Townes, Jr. - 2011
- 1685: Robert Pollack and Robert Millar, Covenanters - 2010
- 1903: Arthur Alfred Lynch condemned - 2009
- 1945: Nikolaus Gross, Catholic anti-Nazi labor activist - 2008
Entry Filed under: 19th Century,Botched Executions,California,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Execution,Guest Writers,Hanged,Murder,Other Voices,Sex,USA
Tags: 1870s, 1874, elizabeth eischler, january 23, marshall martin, martinez, valentine eischler
